The BioDesign Newsletter

Issue #012

AMSilk Ultrafine Fiber Faces Luxury Mulberry Silk 

Mulberry silk is considered to be the highest quality silk on the market. From the cocoons of silkworms, fed only the leaves off the mulberry tree, the high quality of Mulberry silk can be attributed to its long, strong and soft fibres. When woven, these fibres become the pinnacle of luxury silk. 

It is the silk which silk alternatives aspire to in the luxury market, and the same silk AMSilk has compared their Ultrafine Fiber to in an independent ISO-compliant ‘Cradle-to-Gate’ Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). 

The Cradle-to-Gate study is a type of LCA which evaluates the environmental impact of a product or process from the extraction of raw materials (cradle) to the point the product leaves the manufacturing facility (gate). 

The production of AMSilk’s Ultrafine Fiber is vastly different to that of Mulberry silk. As a bio-manufactured material, AMSilk’s Ultrafine Fiber is processed from silk proteins grown in an upscaled protein production facility. Not a tree, silkworm or cocoon in sight.

Significant Environmental Benefits of Biofabrication Showcased in LCA Study

Five environmental indicators, most relevant to the textiles industry, were assessed in the Cradle-to-Gate comparison of Ultrafine Fiber and Mulberry silk: climate change, land use, water use, acidification and freshwater eutrophication.

The results were overwhelmingly significant, quantifying the environmental benefits of  AMSilk Ultrafine Fiber over Mulberry silk in the five environmental indicators assessed. 

In comparison to Mulberry Silk, AMSilk Ultrafine Fiber has an 81% lower climate change impact, 92% lower land use, 97% lower water use, 90% lower acidification and 73% lower eutrophication of freshwater. The biotechnology company highlighted that the biofabrication process circumvents the need for mulberry tree cultivation, “resource intensive” silkworm rearing and cocoon harvesting and with it the associated deforestation, water and land use.

This is a promising report for the biomaterials industry as proof that biomaterials can offer a more sustainable option than traditional textiles agriculture.

With this impressive report, AMSilk will be heading to Pitti Filati in Florence to exhibit the biofabricated silk yarns, where the biotechnology company will be looking for collaborators for future ventures in the luxury textile market.

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